The Darkness Lurks
by I'mAWizard3787
Summary: A young boy, left at St Peters Orphanage 1980, what path will he follow? Will the events of the 1950's reoccur or will they be stopped? Harry Potter parent's and the dark lord still alive in this fic.
1. St Peters

_Chapter 1: St Peters_

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, including the majority of characters, spells etc. used in the fic._

* * *

><p>"You freak! Hit him again boys!"<p>

A young boy sprawled out on the floor was struck yet again in the ribs by a burley teen. He coughed into his hand, when he looked back at it; there was a mixture of blood and saliva on his palm.

"Had enough yet, Eddy Weddy?" The ringleader of the teen gang shouted, directly into his face, the sound of vicious laughter met the young boy's ears.

He knew he should fight back, not with fists, but to throw him against that hard, head-cracking brick wall with an invisible force. However, he just laid there; one more mysterious 'accident' involving him and he was to be carted off straight to the nut house. There were many terrifying stories about that place circulating around this house, mainly involving a man name Dr. Linus, the asylums chief 'psychologist'. He did not wish to go there, 'once you go in, you never come out'.

"Awww, what's up little baby?" one of the cruel boys crowed sarcastically,"You not going to fight back? What a shame, we could have had some fun!"

The young boys anger was rising rapidly, if they didn't shut up soon they were going to get hurt.

"Come on lads, let's go down to the park. You hurt anyone in this house again, and you're dead! You understand that Edward?"

With a kick in the stomach, the group of teens departed. The boy lay there for a while, considering his options; why did he put up with this? Why didn't he just run away from this hell hole? He knew the answer to that already, as he had considered it many times before; an eleven year old, homeless and alone on the streets of London? That was not a good idea.

So he picked himself up and retreated back into his room, which was located in the basement. All of the children refused to share a room with him; "he's weird!" they would protest. So he was moved to the bottom of this big building. Not that he complained, he liked it down here; the solitude, the eeriness, the darkness. His room was of an average size, the other rooms are much larger, but around 3 to 4 children slept in them, not one. The room was covered by grey, harsh looking bricks, there was no colour, apart from his bed spread which consisted of a dark green. His bed was placed at the far end of the room; around the bed was a desk, wardrobe and a bookshelf. Everyone else shared the opinion that he read far too much, but he enjoyed reading; he gained more knowledge, and knowledge was everything in his world. Knowledge led to power. If a stranger walked into this room, they would immediately think it belonged to an adult, not a child. A child's room contains toys, and children's books; this boy was far too mature and eager to grow up for that, normally there would also be photo's around the walls, showing their family. He did not have any photos; neither did many others in this building. This is because they have no family. It was an orphanage, St Peters Orphanage London, which housed many children who could be adopted, though that rarely happened; who wanted a brand new 8 year old or teenager?

The boy, currently reading 'Political Power through the Ages', was named Edward Burke, he had lived here since the age of 5 months. Apparently he was left on the orphanages doorstep 11 years ago. Many had wanted to adopt him; he was a beautiful baby. However, when it came to signing forms, when they had put him back in his crib, they would always change their minds.

Edward occasionally wondered what it would be like if he was adopted or if he had any living relatives, but he would soon stop that thought process, saying 'Pull yourself together Edward! I don't need family! I am perfectly fine on my own, I always will be!'

He was a very independent boy, he had not always been this way; he started declining all comfort or love shown his way when the taunting, violence and abuse started. 'They are jealous'; this is what he always told himself when he received snide comments or punches. 'I am more than they will ever be. I will gain knowledge, wealth, prestige and power! They will fall before me'

As you can most likely tell, he was a very ambitious young boy; he had goals he needed to achieve. He knew he could carry them out, he was special you see; he could manipulate everyone around him when he wanted to with his charm, charisma, good looks, beautiful smile and if needs be, fear that he could induce into anyone he wished instantly. He tried to stay away from the latter option as this could get him into trouble with the 'pastoral carers', though the majority of the time he could successfully lie is way out of trouble. He considered himself to be somewhat a master in deception, though he still had a lot to learn. However, this is only skimming the surface of what Edward Burke can do; he has some sort of unexplained power inside of him, it coils up when he is angry or scared, and he can release it. Only yesterday he released this power on a boy who was questioning his intelligence, he is currently in hospital requiring an operation on his broken arm. Edward Burke knew he was destined for greater things, things greater than a mediocre 9 to 5 job, greater than simply passing through life day by day and achieving nothing what so ever.

Edward checked his cracked wrist watch, 10pm. He decided he would leave his book until tomorrow morning, he climbed into bed, unaware that tomorrow morning he would experience the happiest day of his life. By 9am Edward was up, washed, dressed and fed. He was lounging around on his bed, 5 pages away from finishing his book. Upstairs there was a knock at the old wooden, brass handled door, the main carer; Mrs McFee opened it to reveal an around 50 year old woman. She was wearing a plain black dress, looked clearly like she was from some business organisation, and she wore her greying brown hair in a tight bun. She had the air of authority surrounding her.

"Mrs McFee I presume?" the stranger at the door had a strict sounding voice that came from her thin lips.

"Yes, yes, that it she. May I ask who are you, and what you are calling for?" Mrs McFee tried to sound polite, but today was one of those days; looking after 30 children with only 3 carers, and that poor Edward has been accused of mistreatment yet again.

"My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I am here to inform a Mr Edward Burke that he, if he wishes, shall attend a boarding school for talented young children".

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you like the story, any improvements you can think of please tell me! I don't <strong>**mind criticisms :) New Chapter up in less than 24 hours, yay!**


	2. The Witch, The Flames and The Bookshelf

_Chapter 2: The Witch, The Flames and The Bookshelf_

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, including the majority of characters, spells etc. used in the fic_

* * *

><p>Mrs McFee was much more than shocked, a boarding school wanting Edward to enrol? Many questions were shooting through her head, questions like 'I know Edward is talented, but how do they know that?' She had come to the conclusion that this was some sort of scam, opportunities like this do not happen for an 11 year old orphan.<p>

"A boarding school you say? Forgive me if I am appearing a bit sceptical, but it is only natural; where is this boarding school of yours?" Mrs McFee tried to pry.

"Yes, I completely understand, this must sound a tad bit strange for you. How about you invite me in and we can talk about this more privately? It is not something I wish to discuss on a doorstep" McGonagall said.

Mrs McFee nodded her head and reluctantly led Mrs McGonagall into the entrance hall; it was a shabby looking place. With wood, the same colour as the doors, plastered onto the walls, the floor consisted of a hard grey stone which managed to give the place a cold feeling. Two children with flaming red hair shot passed the carer and nearly knocked her to the floor

"Do watch where you are going! Right this way, we shall discuss this in my office"

Mrs McFee led the stern woman through the door on the right. The office had the same walls as the entrance hall, but with a warmer floor; it was covered with a light brown carpet. This room appeared to match the main carer somewhat, she had brown hair, and some strands fell into her slightly wrinkled, worn out face which you could only get from looking after many children for many years. She was slightly overweight and she wore a light brown jacket over her black trousers. Despite what many would say, she looked like a kind woman.

"Have a seat Mrs McGonagall" she took one herself behind her desk.

"Please, call me Minerva. As to answer your question from before, Hogwarts is located in Scotland"

Minerva smiled at the woman as she could clearly see that she was becoming even more sceptical,

"Hogwarts? I have never heard of such a place. And in Scotland you say? How could you even know about Edward Burke, and more importantly how do you expect him to travel down there! We don't have much money you know!"

Mrs McGonagall smiled again at the woman, this time it was a patient one, "Hogwarts is one of the most prestigious boarding schools in Britain, and you have to have your name down from birth. This is how we know about Edward, his parents made sure he would be offered a place. And we also have a funding system which helps children like Edward, who come from less financially available backgrounds to buy their supplies. The school has a private train that takes the children to and from Hogwarts at the start and ends of term" Minerva explained.

"From birth you say? Does that mean you have knowledge of Edward's parents, are they alive?" Mrs McFee asked hopefully.

"We cannot share any information about Edward Burke, obviously it is a confidential matter"

In truth Hogwarts knew nothing about where Edward came from or who his parents were; they simply had information on who was a wizard or witch and who was not.

"Tell me about Edward, we know little about him" Minerva smiled yet again, this time it was encouraging.

"Well, in the carer's eyes he is a lovely, charming young boy. Yet, he does not get on with the other children, they seem to dislike him and a lot report violence from his part to us. I simply believe he is too mature to play with the children" Mrs McFee began to explain.

"Would you mind if I met Edward?" Minerva was starting to become worried, surely it was because of bursts of accidental magic that he was violent?

"Yes, yes of course. I shall take you to his room".

Mrs McFee led Minerva down to the basement, she appeared a little confused when they walked past all the old boxes;

"He sleeps down in the basement?" Minerva enquired.

"Yes, he likes it down here, and the other children are happy about it". She opened the door that was furthest away from the staircase leading upwards, sat on a dark green bed was a young boy who was currently engrossed in a book.

Edward looked up from his book, annoyed at being disturbed to find a strict looking woman. He assessed her with narrowed eyes; dressed in black business clothes, strict face – psychologist, this was his conclusion.

"Edward" Mrs McFee smiled at him, "We have a visitor here, I expect you to be on your best behaviour" She gave him a stern look and then departed.

"Good morning Edward, I am Mrs McGonagall, and I am here to talk to you about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" she gave him a reassuring smile.

"I know who you are" he replied, with a commanding tone to his voice, she looked shocked "You do?"

"Of course, your one of the psychologists of Dr Linus's, don't try lying to me!" he shouted.

"Mr Burke! I can assure you I am not a 'psychologist'. I am merely here to inform you that you have a place in a wizarding school" she said, rather haughtily after Edwards outburst.

"A wizard school? You must be joking, there is no such thing as magic!" He was very disbelieving.

"Are you sure? There has never been a time, when you were angry or scared, and you did something impossible without realising?"

She was patient with the young boy, many wizards and witches who grew up surrounded by muggles were also reluctant to accept the fact. Edward thought back, would that explain throwing Miles against that tree without touching him? Or the many other incidences that were unexplainable?

"There may have been occasions were something like that happened" Edward replied, not wanting to give too much away, after all she was a stranger.

McGonagall smiled at is hesitance, "What is it exactly that you can do? Magically, I mean" she inquired.

"I can do many things" Edward said, he was not going to share his life with this woman.

"Hmm… is that all I am going to get? Well I suppose we should get down to business" she proceeded to hand Edward a letter when she said this,

"Normally you just receive a letter through the post but as you were raised my muggles it is mandatory that we visit and explain the letter to you"

He began to open the letter, appearing uninterested but on the inside his emotions were all over the place; happiness – he was not a freak, confused - why he had never known about wizards or witches before and disbelief – who was this woman, was he going to take her seriously.

"Muggles?" He had never heard this word before

"This is the term we used for non-magical folk, like Mrs McFee" Minerva said

Edward frowned slightly, inside the envelope was two pieces of yellow/white parchment, one stated that he was enrolled into Hogwarts if he chose to be, and when the term started and ended, the second piece contained a list of equipment he needed.

"The train for Hogwarts leaves at 11am on the 5th of September, here is your ticket" She handed a slip of card to him

"9 and 3/4? There is not a platform 9 and ¾! You must think I'm crazy!" He narrowed his eyes to glare at her again.

"Mr Burke I would appreciate you not staring daggers at me. There is not a platform 9 and ¾ to muggles but there is for us. You simply have to travel through the barrier at platforms 9 and 10 which will take you there" she replied, trying to make him see reason.

"How about some proof before you very own eyes?" Minerva said pulling out a long wooden stick in the process;

Edward simply nodded, keeping his eyes trained on the stick. With the flick of the stick his bookshelf burst into flames

"What do you think you are doing! Stop that NOW!" He yelled, with a strange commanding tone

Minerva was taken back for a moment; a little boy should not be able to use that tone. She removed the fire with another flick, the books and the shelf were completely unharmed. Edwards's mouth hung open for a split second before he immediately closed it -he did not like to show his emotions around people.

"Is that proof enough?" again Edward just nodded his head.

"Right now that matter has been cleared up, the next issue is your supplies"

At this point Minerva pulled out a pouch which obviously contained coins from the sound it made, Edward turned his face away; he did not need charity. She passed the pouch to him

"This is sufficient enough to buy you what you need, though some may need to be second hand I'm afraid. If you would like to come with me, I shall take you too diagonal alley to purchase your items"as she said this she moved towards the door.

"No" Edward simply replied, "Excuse me?" McGonagall was confused.

"I don't need your help, I can shop by myself thank you" Edward stated, Mrs McGonagall frown deepened; she was now very confused.

"Well if that is what you wish. Travel to Charing Cross Road, and make your way to the leaky cauldron; ask for Tom the barman and he will grant you access to Diagon Alley. I shall see you at Hogwarts Mr Burke" At this she departed through his bedroom door

Edward began to smile; he was going to a school where he could learn magic, and best of all get away from these detestable muggles!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 2, had fun writing this :) Again, any criticisms (or positives (;) are welcome. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will update it in less than 2 days, that's a promise right there. <strong>


	3. Diagon Alley

_Chapter 3: Diagon Alley_**  
><strong>

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, including the majority of characters, spells etc. used in the fic_

* * *

><p>Diagon Alley was easy to find, Tom the barman was helpful; he opened up the Alley which was previous concealed by bricks. When the bricks slid away, they revealed hundreds of people wearing cloaks of all different colours: some red, some blue some even bright yellow! There were many shops lining the street, some selling books, or potions or even magical wands.<p>

Edwards face lit up when he stepped onto the cobbled street, it was indescribable; it was truly amazing. He began to wander around, forgetting he actually had a list of items he needed. He passed unnoticed by families as he looked into the many shop windows. As he sat down with his mint and pumpkin ice cream (a surprisingly good combination), he analysed the people that passed; some obviously were there for business, others were buying school supplies for the children's new term at Hogwarts. A group of flaming red heads passed him; two twins were antagonising an older looking boy whist their mother shouted at them. Another family buying ice cream brought his attention away from the family of gingers,

"But I want a broom Mum!" a boy with messy hair and round glasses complained.

"No Harry, it says on the list first years cannot have one. James would you tell him please!" The red-headed mother shouted

"Look kiddo, how about you try out for the team first, if you get in we can send you one?" he smiled doubtingly at his son.

"James! You should not be encouraging him to break rules!" the mother scolded yet again.

"He's obviously going to be on the team Lily, quidditch is in his blood".

Edward stopped listening to the conversation, they were boring him. The boy appeared to be quite spoiled, and the father obviously didn't help. There was so much more he needed to know about the Wizarding world, his world! He could not go to Hogwarts knowing nothing whilst all the other children knew everything, it would be shameful. Edward decided that the following months would be spent studying, and studying hard.

The first shop Edward decided to go to was Olivander's Wand Shop. He opened the door and the bell rang out.

"Hello, little one" a watery eyed man with grey hair spoke mysteriously.

Edward glared at the old man for startling him,

"Good morning, I would like to purchase a wand" Edward said, bored by this man already.

"Of course, that is what I sell! Which is your wand arm?" Olivander smiled at Edward,

"My right" he stated, he presumed 'wand arm' meant which is your strongest hand.

A measuring tape flew out at him, measuring every part of his body, weirdly even his eye-brows.

"Righty-ho! How about this one?" Olivander took the wand from the dusty box and handed it to Edward, as soon as it touched his fingertips a loud bang sounded from the piece of wood.

"Obviously not!" Many wands later, and many broken shelves, Olivander handed Edward another wand.

"Yew, 13 inches, venom from a basilisk fang. Give it a wave!"

Edward proceeded to wave the stick in his hands, silver and green sparks flew from it. He felt more complete with this wand in his hands, he felt powerful.

"Interesting…" Olivander mused,

"Hmm?" Edward wasn't really listening to him; his attention was focused on the wand in front of him.

"You are certainly going to be a powerful wizard, young one. The wood and the core are both symbols of power, but also of darkness. We may see more of you in the future" Olivander's face was blank after this statement

Edward simply said "Goodbye sir" as he walked out of the shop.

The couple with the young son with messy hair entered just as he left. The next stop was Madam Malkins Robes for all Occasions; he did not buy these second hand. However, he did decide to buy all of his books second hand as this meant he could buy more. He left the book shop with all his required books and a few extras, some on the dark arts, others on pureblood traditions and the Wizarding world in general. After all of his shopping, he could not buy a pet, he had no money left at all. Edward had managed to work out the currency though: 17 sickles to a galleon, 29 knuts in a sickle and so 493 knuts in a galleon. He didn't even have a knut left to his name.

When he returned to the orphanage, which was a relatively short distance from the Leaky Cauldron, he went straight to his bedroom and pulled out a book from his rucksack, this one was entitled 'Welcome to the Wizarding World'. Edward continued reading day and night; he only ever left his bedroom for meals. He read all the extra books and his entire class books; he probably read each one around 5 times. After all, he wanted to be top of his classes when the term ended.

Edward was currently sat on his bed, and for the first time in his life, he was truly nervous; today was September 4th. This meant that tomorrow he would be boarding the Hogwarts Express from platform 9 and ¾ . He didn't know what to expect, how talented was everybody going to be? Do they all come from rich Wizarding families? He was excited though; he had practised all his spells from his class books, and could cast them with perfection. He wouldn't have been able to do this without his 'Welcome to the Wizarding World' book, which informed him that the trace spell wasn't activated until he stepped foot in Hogwarts for the first time. A beeping noise interrupted Edwards thoughts, the sound was coming from his watch. The time read 12:00am, so he pulled the covers over him and attempted to get some sleep.

He failed miserably of course. He got around 4 hours sleep, but he didn't care, he was going to Hogwarts! He was packed at 8am, he washed and was fed. At 9am, he made his goodbyes to the pastoral carers, Mrs McFee reminded him that he best not get into any trouble. Edward just rolled his eyes at her, what was she going to do? As he made his way out of the orphanage some of the children were hanging their heads out of the various windows. "Smell you later Weddy!" "Do us a favour and don't ever come back?" and many other insults were hurled at him. He simply turned around smiled and waved and then turned the corner, heading towards Kings Cross Station.

The walk was around 5 and a half miles from the orphanage, he managed to get there at half past 10 which left him with half an hour to board the train. As he was heading towards the barrier between 9 and 10 he spotted two very well dressed wizards complaining about "filthy muggles".

They were obviously father and son; the both had the same white blonde hair and they even had the same style of walking – very elegantly. From their hatred of muggles, Edward knew he would get on well with the young boy. The family was beginning to say their goodbyes, the blond haired child scanned around, presumable for any muggles watching, and then ran straight into the brick wall. If Edward didn't know that it was the entrance to platform 9 3/4 , he would have expected him to leave an indent. The Man then spun around and disappeared before Edwards own eyes, 'I have to learn how to do that!'.

Steadying himself, he made a brisk run into the barrier; he opened his eyes before he had made it through and saw his nose inches away from the bricks, he quickly closed them again. When he realised he wasn't in any pain he peaked his eyes open – in front of his was a scarlet steam engine, bearing the words 'Hogwarts Express' on the front. Family's all around were kissing and hugging goodbye to their children, Edward felt a small pang of some emotion, but he quickly pushed it aside. He spotted the family of red heads easily, there was no change; the older brother looked very angry towards the two twins, and the mother was rubbing a younger boy's nose. Next to them was the messy haired boy and his parents; his mother was in tears and his father smiled at him proudly. Edward couldn't stare at these disgusting moments any longer; it was time to find a compartment.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 up! Hope you enjoy it! The next chapter may include the sorting, I haven't decided yet! :) Look forward to any comments ;)<strong>

**DarkLady - I can't reveal anything yet, that will just ruin the story for you! :) Thank you for your review.**


	4. Hogwarts

****_Chapter 4: Hogwarts_

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, including the majority of characters, spells etc. used in the fic_

* * *

><p>Edward managed to find an empty compartment towards the end of the train; he wanted to read his books in peace. Soon the door opened and one of the red heads walked in,<p>

"Do you mind if I sit here? All the others are full" he asked.

No way did Edward want to sit here and endure this boy's mindless rabble, so he turned back to his book, not uttering a word.

"Err… Okay, I'll just take a seat" the boy sounded quite nervous.

"My names Ron by the way, Ron Weasly. What's yours?" Ron said, trying to make conversation

Again Edward didn't even acknowledge him. "I can tell what house you're going to be in, Ravenclaw for definite!" he laughed.

'The train hasn't even started moving yet and I'm already mind numbingly bored!' Edward thought to himself.

"Why, because I read? Well, you probably won't even get sorted into a house then" Edward said rather snappily.

Ron was taken back for a moment, he realised he was getting on the boys nerves. Just as he was about to leave the compartment, the door opened again, this time a raven haired boy walked through.

Edward groaned under his breath, 'this is going to be a long journey!'

"Is that seat taken?" the boy sat down before anyone answered.

"I'm Harry Potter you probably know my dad; James Potter, he's one of the top aurors" Harry stated rather pompously.

"Yes! The man who catches dark wizards? My father has mentioned him before" Ron replied excitedly, he was probably delighted to have someone else to talk to rather than Edward.

"Does you Dad work for the Ministry of Magic too? Which department is he in?"

Ron looked reluctant to answer the question; his face was turning a shade of beetroot. "He's in the misuse of muggle artefacts department" he mumbled under his breath, Harry pulled a face that looked somewhat like a grimace.

Somewhere outside a whistle was blown, a signal that the Hogwarts Express would be leaving any moment now.

'Thank the Lord! Only 5 more hours of these idiots!' he thought to himself.

The scarlet steam engine soon set off, and it began increasing in speed, the waving families disappeared. Edward had to endure an hour of them talking about quidditch; well it was more of an argument:

"The Chudley Cannons are by far the best!"

"If the bottom of the league is the best, then yes. My Dad and I support the Tornado's"

"More glory supporters" Ron said with his head in his heads.

The conversation moved onto Hogwarts, specifically the four houses."I'm definitely going to Gryffindor, my whole family has been in that house for generations" Harry spoke, a proud look on his face.

"I will be too, all my brothers are in Gryffindor. At least we will be together" Ron looked happy at this fact, maybe he didn't have many friends.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Ron asked, involving him yet again.

"We'll I definitely would not fit into Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff is out of the question! So either Ravenclaw or Slytherin, personally I think it's going to be Slytherin"Edward replied nonchalantly.

"What!" Both boys screamed, Edward looked at them, confused.

"You actually want to be in Slytherin? What is wrong with you?" Harry commented maliciously

"And what's wrong with Gryffindor? To brave for you, huh?" Ron said.

"Bravery?" Edward sneered, "That's just a sympathetic word for foolishness and stupidity".

Just as the boys were going to retort, the compartment door slid open again. This time the blonde haired boy walked in with two large, wide shouldered boys tailing him. "My, my, what is happening in here? You can here you from the other side of the train" He said.

"This snake is saying how he wants to be sorted into Slytherin, and insulting Gryffindor!" Ron yelled in outrage.

"Well, I'd say he has the right idea, wouldn't you?" He replied casually.

He stretched his hand in front of Edward and left it there, Edward stood up clasped his hand around the boys and shook it firmly.

"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, this is Crabbe and Goyle. Why don't you join us in our compartment, away from these muggle lovers?" Draco pointed over his shoulder; the two rotund boys nodded their heads.

"What's your name?" He asked

"Edward Burke"

"I've never heard of a Burke before, are you foreign?" The blonde haired boy looked wary

"No, I'm from London"

"Oh, I see" Draco said simply, he quickly retracted his hand, backing away from Edward.

"Well I can tell who you are. Red hair, covered in freckles, second hand robes. You're a Weasley; a disgrace of a pureblood" Draco looked disgusted.

"Excuse me!" Ron's face looked like a tomato.

"Come on guys, this compartment is full of filth." Draco smirked as he said this, the burley boys just sniggered at his comment.

Edward sat back down in his seat, what had he done wrong? 'The boy seemed to like me at first, what did I do?'

"Bet you're considering Ravenclaw now, aren't you? No muggle-born would last a month in Slytherin house" Harry told him whilst Ron was complaining about Draco. 'Is that it? Because my mother was a muggle? But they don't know that, I don't know that!' he thought angrily. 'Well, that isn't going to stop me, I will show them'

The scarlet steam rolled into the station at a small village, outside of the compartment you could hear many loud footsteps moving up and down the train.

"Were supposed to leave our trunks in here, c'mon Ron, we best get a move on" Harry said to the red head excitedly.

They both then exited through the compartment door. Edward stood from his seat and moved towards the door the boys just left from, he caught his reflection in the mirror; normally he would have looked like a charming young boy, with striking blue eyes, neat chocolate brown hair and high cheekbones. At this current moment, he looked green and had a layer of perspiration covering his face. He gave himself a mental speech to encourage himself as he exited the train and joined the other first years. He found himself stood behind the Malfoy boy.

"More mudbloods! My father would have a heart-attack if he knew how many they were letting in this year" he commented bravely, many heads turned to glare at him, including the Weasleys and Harry.

"Firs' years follow me! This way!" a gigantic man shouted.

Edward gazed up at him, he could barely see his face, it was covered in a mountain of bristly brown hair. The crowd of small boys and girls moved, their feet following the huge ones of the giant, when they turned the corner all that could be heard was 'oooo's' and 'ahhh's' of amazement. Even Edward verbally commented on the castles beauty, and he usually refrained from showing his emotions. The castle had many turrets protruding from the rooftops, with arrow slits and large windows in the walls. The moonlight shone off the lake and hit the stone bricks in a shimmering manner. It was truly beautiful.

"Four t' a boa', don't worry you ain' gunna fall in" he said, directing the last part at a large, chubby boy with a round face and brown hair who looked at the boats wearily.

Malfoy scoffed at his lack of bravery, Edward caught a glimpse of him saying "Hufflepuff!" to his cronies. The little boats set off, gliding across the moonlit lake, breaking the calm water surface. They reached what appeared to be the dock and all the first years scrambled onto the rocks, the huge man walked over to a large brown, old fashioned entrance door. He knocked three times and then it opened with a creak.

"Thank you Hagrid, inside first years" Mrs McGonagall said, Edward recognised her from their meeting at the orphanage.

Hagrid stumbled off into the distance as the first years entered the great castle. The entrance hall was massive; you could fit the entire orphanage into it. It had the same brickwork as outside, but there were paintings and portraits lining these grey walls, Edward was positive he saw one move. McGonagall led them into an antechamber; this is where she started giving a monotonous speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Shortly we will proceed to the great hall where you will be sorted; there are four houses of which you can be placed into: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble traits and characteristics. Your education here lasts for seven years, so your house will be like your family. You will have many opportunities to gain points for your house, and any rule breaking will consequently lose you points." She paused a moment to give the children a stern glance, her eyes lingered a moment of Edward, and then she continued.

"When your name is read out in the hall, come forward and place the hat on your head. If you will follow me now." She led them to an even bigger door, this one was already open. As they entered all the faces turned to stare, it was like they were animals in a zoo. Some of the faces looked friendly, others frankly looked scary. Edward glanced upwards, he expected to see a celling, he was shocked when a night sky was in its place; it was a pitch black blanket, with many twinkling stars winking down at the inhabitants of the hall. There were five tables, each for one of the four houses, and one at the far end, facing the rest was the staff table. An elderly man with a long white beard was situated in the middle of the table. McGonagall eventually stopped beside a stool with an old raggedy hat sat on top. She picked up a scroll and unrolled it

"Abbot Hannah!" she called.

A young blonde girl came forth and sat on the stool with the hat covering the majority of her face. The hall was silent for a moment before a cry sounded:

"Hufflepuff!" The second table from the left jumped up and applauded the young girl.

'Alphabetically, that means I'm soon! What if I get sorted into Hufflepuff, I mean honestly, I think I'd rather go home'.

The moment came too soon for Edward, he dreaded the moment when the woman opened her stern lips and shouted "Burke, Edward!"

He gulped and then gracefully glided over to the wooden stool; before he sat down he caught the old man's eye, who smiled reassuringly. Edward slowly put the hat over his head and waited for the moment of truth.

'Ah! An interesting case'

'Good, very good, I enjoy the tough ones' Edward nearly screamed out loud; thankfully he refrained himself and was saved from the embarrassment it would have led to.

'A brilliant mind I see, Ravenclaw would be proud to have you. 'But also a major thirst to prove yourself, yes that is very clear! Also a small amount of bravery, but the cunning definitely overrides that. I know exactly where to put you!' Edward squeezed his eyes shut; this was the moment that shaped his path, all down to an old, smelly hat.

'Slytherin!'

* * *

><p>Sorry I took a while, blame the exams! How tedious is revision? Honestly, there is so much more I could be doing with my time, like writing fanfiction! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank your the reviews. I do appreciate your constructive criticism, I'll try not to make it so obvious next time. Keep it coming, it can only make me become a better writer! :)<p> 


End file.
